Hargreaves Lansdown has rebranded the Wealth 150 as the Wealth 50 given the smaller number of funds on the list – now at 61 - and has secured more discounts. Yet as Citywire reports comments from chief executive Chris Hill saying the firm is cheaper than premium pricing IFAs may raise a few eyebrows and no doubt spark a social media debate.
As the pension cold calling ban comes into force, the industry debates how effective it will be in Money Marketing, while Jeff Prestridge in the Mail on Sunday gives credit where credit is due – that is to say to Red Circle’s Darren Cooke.
Andy Sutherland, managing director at consultants TCC, alerts advisers to the FCA’s reviews of both the RDR and the FAMR this year. One area of concern for him is the lack of clarity regarding the difference between independents and restricted advisers and the huge range of services covered by the restricted category.
Money Marketing asks whether advisers should be qualified to degree level, an approach being taken by Australia. I am not sure this is exactly the right comparison – which sort of degree are we discussing? - nor whether this is some sort of panacea for stopping misselling.
The European regulator ESMA has issued a report warning that retail funds across Europe erode around 25% of investors’ returns. It suggests that active investment products consistently underperform passive strategies. What will be interesting is to see how much relevance such views have after Brexit with the UK due to remain aligned with most EU regulation.
British Steel pension transfer compensation has passed the £1m mark.
The FCA says it is still in talks with the Treasury about including appointed representatives in the senior managers regime.
Aberdeen Standard Investments has signed a joint venture with Virgin Money, investing £40m and taking 50 per cent stake in Virgin’s asset management business. Cue arguments about the cost of that tracker!
Investors with a short-term approach have been branded "self-indulgent" by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s James Anderson.
Tech and marketing agency Space’s Marilyn Cole argues that it is time to change the narrative about long term investing, chiming with Mr Anderson’s views.
